Line-spacing mechanism for typewriters



Aug. 11, 192s.' l

O. A. H OKANSON LINE SPACING vMEGHAHlI-'Sll FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed July 17, 1920 Patented ug. l1, 1925.

I i E e erro A. Hortenson, or woonsrocn, Immers, nssrenon' To woonsrocn TYrnwRITEn contraria, ror woonsfrocn, IriIrncIs, .a conreaa'rIon or ILLINOIS.

LINE-SPACING LEGHANISMFOR TYPEWRITERS.

.Application led July 17, 1920. Serial No. 396,889.

To all whom z' may concern:

Be it known that I, Orro A. HonANsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at l/Voodstocl, in thecounty of McHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements iniLine-Spacing Mechanism for Typewriters, of which th following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to typewriters, and more particularly to that portion of type writer `mechanism by which lthe paper is shifted to bring a newl line into printingl position, and has for its object the provision of mechanismof the class named which shall be of improved construction and opera# tion.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the drawing'and described in the following specilication, and it is more particularly pointed out `in the, appended claims.

In the drawingef 1 f Fig. 1 is a top-plan view of a portion of a typewriter having one embodiment et' the present invention applied thereto; andV Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on line 2+-2 of Fig. 1.`

Although this invention is applicableto various forms of typewriters, it is shown by way of illustration asapplied te a vtypewriter having a foldable platen carriage frame l() mounted on arms 11 which are pivotally connected at 12 to the base or main frame 18 of the typewriter. A platen carriage 14 is mounted to travel on the carriage frame and is provided with end plates 15 between which a platen 16 is journaled. A ratchet wheel 17 is secured to the platen 16V and is provided with a spring detent 18 having a roller 19 arranged to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 17 to cause the platen when rotated to move in steps corresponding to the line spacing of the typewritten page. The detent` 18 is adjustably mounted on vthe end plate 15 of the platen carriage by means of a screw 20 and a pin 21 which engage a slot 22 formed in a flange 28 on the detent 18. The detent may be adjusted in the direction of its length to regulatev its position Arelative to the ratchet wheel 17 and normally the detent resiliently forces the roller 19 into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet Wheel.` An arm 24 is pivotally mounted at25 on the plate 15 and is provided with a pin 26 vprojecting through a slot 27 in the plate 15 into position to engage the upper face of the detent 18. `A crank 28 is connected with the arm 24 and is provided withai handle 29, by means of which the pin 26 00 maybe shifted in the slot 27 to hold the detent out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 17, leaving the platen free to be rotated independently of the control of the detent. A spring arm is connected with the detent 65 18 and forms a brake strap arrangedy to engage a brake disc 81 connected with a platen spindle 82. When the detent 18 is forced away from the ratchet `wheel 17 the brake spring 8O` will be caused to bear against the brake disc 8-1 to hold the platen from movingV too freely in its bearings and `to retain the platen in any position of adjustment to which it maybe turned by the operator.

The left-hand end plate of the platen 75 carriage 15 is provided with a bracket 88 having a line space lever 84 pivoted at 85 thereon. The lever 84 is provided with a finger-piece 86 by which'the platen carriage is moved along the carriage framewhen it 80 is desired to begin a new line of writing. The pressure for moving the carriage swings the lever 84 upon its pivot and operates the line-spacing mechanism for rotating the platen. This mechanism includes a member 87 pivotally mounted at 88 on the arm 89 of the lever 84 and having a pawl 40 on the forward end 'thereof in position to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 17. The member 87 is provided with a downwardly eX- tending tail-piece 41 which isconnected by a spring 42 to a lug 48 bent downwardly from the arm 89 of the lever 84. Sufficient play is allowed in the pivotal connection 88 between the lever arm 89 and the member 87 topermit the pawl 40 to move into and out of contact with the ratchet wheel 17 and the springv 42 normally tends to hold the pawl in position to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

A nger lever 44 is pivotallyv mounted at 45 on the platel and is provided with a pin 4G which extends beneath the member 87 to hold the pawl 40 out of engagement with the ratchet teeth when the pawl 4()` is in its 4forward position; The member. 87 is offset, however, as shown at 47, so that when the lever 84 is moved in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, for shifting the platen .carriage the member 87 will be 11" Wheel secured to said platen, a detent having a roller for engaging the teeth of said ratchet Wheel, a brake for said platen connected with said detent, ineans for shifting said brake and detent to cause said brake and d'etent alternatively to cooperate With said platen, and means for adjustaloly connecting said detent with said carriage to permit movement of said detent for varying the angular positions at- Which said platen is held.

6. In combination, a platen carriage, a r0- tatable platen thereon, a ratchet Wheel secured to said platen, a horizontally swing ing lever arm, a pavvl supported directly on said lever arm, a supplemental support for said pavvl for controlling the period of en gageinent between said paWl and ratchet, a detent for engaging said ratchet Wheel, a brake connected With said detent and arranged to cooperate With said platen when said detent is ont of engagement With said ratchet Wheel, and means for adjusting said detent to vary the position at which said ratchet Wheel is held thereby.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this specication on this 21st day of June, A. D. 1920.

OTTO A. HOKANSON. 

